Necessity
by Madhumalati
Summary: Ban and Raitei have a little chat about responsibility and Ginji. Raitei makes an unusual request and Ban accepts. Implied shounenai, BanGinji. T for language


_**Necessity**_

Ban was well aware of the hazards of sleeping next to Ginji in the confines of the Ladybug; the blond snored and sprawled and crackled with subtle electricity and occasionally woke him up when his foot kicked the horn in his sleep. But he was used to the discomfort, to the point where the snoring faded into a backdrop and he could almost tolerate it, the sprawling was definitely warmer than the blankets anyway and the horn – well, that couldn't be helped. As for the electricity, all it did was make his hair extraordinarily spiky, so he didn't mind that much.

This prickle on his skin……was different. Less comfortable, colder somehow. And there were a pair of not-so-familiar brown eyes boring a hole in his back. And that warm yellow Ginji-presence in the back of his mind had winked out as if it had never been.

Ban's eyes snapped open, every instinct screaming _enemy_, and when he saw Ginji – _not_ Ginji – looking at him he knew why.

Raitei.

It wasn't him, not fully; the eyes hadn't changed, and Ban was alive, which was a dead give-away that the Thunder Emperor wasn't truly present. But that wasn't an expression Amano Ginji's face could ever reveal; cold, calm calculation.

'Who are you?' Raitei asked in Ginji's voice, and that snapped Ban out of his semi-trance. Raitei wasn't in control, but he was _there_ somehow.

'Come on, I didn't think I was that forgettable,' he said, resorting to flippancy.

'Who are you?' he asked again, ignoring the joke.

Ban's eyes narrowed. He was serious. 'Ban,' he said simply. 'You don't remember?' A strange game, but he would play. There was no threat in the other man, and he was curious.

'Not enough,' Raitei said dismissively. 'You are not enough.'

'What?'

'You wish to see me dead.'

_Oh, you have no idea, _Ban thought bitterly. 'Yes.'

'You believe you will kill me?'

'I have to. Belief has nothing to do with it.'

'Why do you want to kill me?'

_Because you're a smug jackass. Because I hate you. Because…… _'Because,' Ban said carefully, 'If I don't kill you, you'll kill Ginji.'

'And how do you know that I'm not Ginji?'

'You're not,' Ban said flatly. 'That's true.'

Raitei inclined his head, amused. 'As you say,' he agreed. 'Very well, then. Let's say we fight. Let's say you kill me. Are you prepared for the consequences?'

Ban waited.

'Do you think that I am a superfluous creation? Are you really that foolish?'

He was controlling the conversation fully – no, it was an interrogation. Ban let him. He was beginning to suspect that Raitei was leading up to something.

'I wouldn't say you're unnecessary,' Ban said, fingers twitching for a cigarette. 'More like a raving psycho with way more power than he needs.'

'I was called into being by the person you call Ginji,' Raitei said, almost contemplative. 'He called me, because he couldn't deal with what he was doing. Couldn't handle what was happening to him and around him. If I die, so does that safety net. You may not have realised,' he said, leaning closer, and Ban thought that it was just wrong, so wrong, that Raitei and Ginji should have that same faint rain-and-lightning scent – 'that the one you're fighting is Ginji. You may not have realised that if I am gone, then nothing separates Ginji from Raitei.'

'Give me some credit,' Ban sneered. 'I know damn well who you are.'

'You cannot kill me, Midou Ban,' Raitei observed tranquilly. 'Not until I am truly unnecessary. And I am not.'

'You will be,' Ban said, and his voice had the clarity of a prophet's. 'I'll make you unnecessary if it's the last thing I do.'

'Then,' Raitei said, 'I ask you again. Are you prepared for the consequences of that action?'

'Consequences?'

Raitei sighed. 'So powerful and so stupid. It's amazing how those traits combine so often. Yes, consequences. I am Ginji's protector. If you do succeed in destroying me, what will take my place?'

So. This was what he'd wanted to say. Ban leaned back in the seat. 'What, you want me to say it aloud?'

'Perhaps,' Raitei said, an enigmatic smile flickering across his face.

'I will,' Ban said, clear and determined.

'Why?'

And this was what he'd wanted to hear. _Who are you?_

Ban sighed. 'Because while you may be a necessity to Ginji, he's a necessity to me. And I'd rather die than lose that. It's really that simple.'

'And who are you?' Raitei asked again. 'What is he to you?'

'I……' Ban began, choking over what he wanted to say by sheer force of habit, but Raitei was already holding up a hand to forestall him. Whatever he'd seen, it was what he'd wanted to see.

'That's good,' Raitei said, that strange half-smile still present.

'Why are you asking me this? Why tell me all this?'

'Because,' Raitei said, and there was a long-suffering patience in his tone that was uncannily like Ban's when Ginji was being particularly dense, 'we're going to fight at some point in the future. And only one of us will walk away. You may succeed in destroying me; you may even save Ginji. You're the kind of man who would. On the other hand, I may kill you. But since only one of us will walk away, I wanted to make it very clear what your responsibilities are.'

'Responsibilities?' Ban inquired, amused.

'But of course,' Raitei replied. 'Make no mistake, I hate you with every fibre of my being.' He hesitated. 'But Ginji doesn't.'

'This,' Ban said wearily, 'is quite possibly the weirdest conversation I have ever had.'

Raitei smirked. 'What makes you think we're _talking_?'

He reached out a crackling, glowing hand and Ban shut his eyes on reflex–

To wake in the front seat of the Ladybug.

'Gin…ji?' he said slowly, coming awake. That had been a dream, yes, but Ban knew the power of dreams and he knew better than to ignore this one. He looked over at the blond in the seat next to his, but Ginji was fast asleep, one hand supporting his head, which was propped up at an awkward angle against the window.

Funny how he managed to look cute even when he was drooling.

_Who are you?_ Raitei said again, a whisper in the air and in his mind, startling him. Ginji never stirred.

'I'm Ban,' he said aloud. 'Midou Ban. Ginji's partner. Retrieval expert.' And that was all, really, he decided as he lay back and closed his eyes. A perfect summary of everything important about him. 'And as much as I may hate you, you psychotic bastard, I love him. And I _will_ kill you someday.'

He had a sneaking feeling Raitei was satisfied.

A/N: weird, plotless, and possibly not canon. Sigh.


End file.
